Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket

Audition!

Yikes!

For seven years, I have sung in the San Francisco Girls Chorus, moving through the prep chorus and then all four levels. On Monday night, I graduated Level Four and the Chorus School, giving me the opportunity to audition for Chorissima, the 'next level.' The Chorus is a world-renowned organization, and Chorissima has been offered so many opportunities over the years (performing at the Kennedy Center (which I also got to do this year!), Carnegie Hall, Barack Obama's inauguration, not to mention world tours). My audition is in two and a half hours! Yay! I am singing 'If I Were a Bell' from Guys and Dolls, and another piece they asked us to learn, 'Father Death Blues.' That's all fine, but the part I'm anxious about is sight singing. If you don't know what this is, it's where you're given a piece of music you've never seen before, and sing it. It may sound simple, but it is quite difficult, and we have to conduct ourselves! I have trouble sometimes not stopping, so I am working on that.

I guess the point of this post was, wish me luck! If I don't get in, I can always go back to Level Four as a graduate member. I'll keep you posted! 

Mudge says eead. EEK! Yes, Mudge, I agree, but I'm trying to channel those feelings into excitement rather than nervousness. 

Your time now is short, but for the future, you can practice sight singing on any music you don't know. Learn how intervals sound (major third vs minor third, etc.) and how to determine what key the piece is in. Then within an octave of that key, think what the placement of each note is. (Oh, it starts on the third/mi, etc.) I remember that the first two notes of "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" are a major sixth apart (if you know that tune). Then you can also practice reading rhythms. But with all your experience, I'm guessing you'll get in on your first try. Good luck!

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